Porsche’s Sonderwunsch division is typically reserved for sports cars like the 911—the 993 Speedster, the new Slantnose, etc. But that doesn’t mean it’s only for the 911. In fact, Sonderwunsch will build whatever you want, however you want it, regardless of body style.
Speaking with Motor1 at Monterey Car Week, Alexander Fabig, Porsche’s vice president of individualization and classic, confirmed that Sonderwunsch is currently working on bespoke four-door projects.
While he stopped short of saying that any one-off Cayennes or Macans were currently in the works, sadly, Fabig did say that customers are interested in other products beyond the 911.
‘Yes, we have inquiries for four-door sports cars that we are currently working on. Of course, that’s the minority. The majority of customers are looking for two-door sports cars, but we have it, and on different levels.’
2009 Porsche Cayenne GTS Factory Re-Commission
Photo by: Porsche
We’ve seen a sliver of this from Sonderwunsch already.
Last year, the division completed its first “Factory Re-Commission” of a 2009 Cayenne GTS that was completely refurbished with a Blackolive exterior and a reworked cabin with English Green leather. Sonderwunsch even upgraded the mechanics, fitting the SUV with a six-speed manual transmission, as God intended.
There is, however, one major catch: You’ll need to be patient. Fabig says the typical timeline for a one-of-one build is just about three years. The new Slantnose—with trickier homologation requirements—required closer to a year and a half to complete.
And not every delay necessarily comes from engineering challenges. Fabig says the customer is effectively part of the development team, which means their availability can potentially influence the timeline.
‘Our standard [development time] is one year in the concept phase. That’s where we do the technical feasibility and description, and also the financial feasibility of the car. And then it’s two years in the realization phase. That’s where we then really build the tooling, we do the final testing, and we build the car.
So the three years, that’s the blueprint. For [Flachbau], it was 3.5 years in the end.
And not every delay necessarily comes from engineering challenges, interestingly. Fabig says the customer is effectively part of the development team, meaning their availability can influence the timeline.
You always have to take into consideration—we are talking about the customer here—these are all people with busy schedules. So sometimes delays are not really due to some technical issues; it’s just the availability of our “project manager.” Because they’re the boss, without the customer, there can be no decisions.’
Photo by: Porsche
Fabig notes that many of the customers who commission one-off Porsche models tend to be extremely knowledgeable about the brand—and tend to stay within the guidelines of the brand’s DNA.
So rather than asking Porsche to completely reinvent one of its cars, they’re often looking for something that feels like it could have come straight from the factory.
‘For [Sonderwunsch one-off customers], it’s important to stay very close in line with the brand DNA—with the design philosophy Zuffenhausen and Weissach.’
He says Porsche has yet to turn down a customer request because the owners commissioning these cars generally understand what works for the brand.
‘Honestly, we’ve never—so far, at least—turned down a customer’s wishes, because they stay so much within our own brand identity that sometimes it’s even us pushing the customer a little bit, and asking him if he wants to be a bit more creative.
They are not customers; they are Porsche scientists. They know everything about the brand and the car; the customer of [Flachbau] knows every nut and bolt about the Flachbau history. So, for him, it would be impossible to ask for something that doesn’t feel right for the Porsche brand.’
So, for anyone lucky enough to commission a one-off Sonderwunsch project, the question isn’t necessarily whether Porsche will build the car you want. It’s whether your idea fits the Porsche universe—and whether you’re willing to wait three years to see it become reality.
And yes, that even includes four-door models.
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